Sk8ergrls
by SpyHunter29
Summary: A new agent joins WOOHP in the fight against the Compass mob and its two new henchmen. Alex x OC *CURRENTLY ON HIATUS*
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Santa Monica Pier

June 12th, 2004

Claude Duchamp, a 21-year-old French-born contortionist, should have been the happiest man in the world. On vacation from the Shanghai Academy of the Performing Arts, he got a job hosting a flexibility class in Los Angeles. He wasn't proud of how he got the job, but he managed to make the class his own. The student body of his class consisted mainly of cute girls of his age or slightly younger, perfect for someone as girl-crazy as him. In fact, he had even fallen in love with one of his pupils.

And therein laid the problem. The girl in question, a young Hispanic lady named Alex Vasquez, had indirectly gotten him into trouble only within the previous week. As it turned out, she was a secret agent for a freelance defense group known as WOOHP, the World Organization of Human Protection. This unit had apparently been annexed by yet another freelance defense group, the Delta Defense Alliance, and expanded its operations. Three days before, Claude went on a date with Alex only to be captured and dragged to the other side of the country. The two were successfully rescued, with no losses, by other agents from WOOHP and Delta. After the ordeal, he, Alex, and the three agents who rescued them became the best of friends.

Now all of that was in the past, and after having taught one of his classes just that morning, Claude was waiting at a smoothie stand on Santa Monica Pier for Alex to arrive for yet another date – one that would hopefully not be interrupted by enemy action. However, it was fifteen minutes past their agreed-upon time, and there was still no sign of her. The only other person sitting nearby was a different girl, not of Alex's clique. She had medium-length brown hair in a ponytail, and wore a ratty-looking outfit with her long flannel shirt extending down her jeans like a miniskirt. Claude thought he recognized her, but at first could not think of where he had seen her last.

Still, she seemed like a nice girl. She opened the conversation by asking him, "I've seen you around. Claude Duchamp, huh?"

"Yup, you're talking to him," he said half-interestedly. "And you are?"

"Rosie. Rosie Galliano. I'm not from around here; I used to live in Philadelphia until just a while ago."

"Me, too! Only I started college in China, and I'm on summer vacation now. It's no ordinary school either, it's the…" Claude took a moment to recall the full name of his school. "…Shanghai Academy of the Performing Arts. A circus school, you could say."

She cracked a smile, as did Claude. "That is so awesome! Say, I must have seen you around too; don't you teach that…"

"Ah, _oui_, the… um, flexibility class? The one and the same! So what, are you a student or something?"

"Oh, um, yes! You probably haven't noticed me, judging by the questions you just asked me. Plus, you know, I'm not that good."

"Don't be ashamed of that! You don't have to be at my level to be proud of yourself!"

Rosie smiled. Noticing that Claude did not return the favor, she asked, "So, what's got you down?"

"Three things. One, I have to wait until next week to start another of my classes." Claude couldn't help but giggle as he said this. "Two, I've been waiting fifteen minutes for a date."

"So who's the lucky girl?"

"Thank you. Well, she's a hot little one, African – no wait, Hispanic."

"Would that be her over there?" Rosie pointed to a group of three girls on inline roller skates, headed their way. One of them was indeed Alex. The other two were Caucasian girls of about her age. One of them, Clover Ewing, had medium-length blonde hair; the other, Samantha Simpson, had long red hair. Their clothes and gear were colored in different schemes for each of the girls; Clover's was sky blue, Sam's was lime green, and Alex's was hot pink. Each of these colors, all accented with white, highlighted their eyes (blue, green, and brown, respectively).

Clover, Sam, and Alex all crowded around Claude and put a hand on his shoulders. At that point, he introduced them all to the new friend he had just made. "_Mes amis_, this is Rosie Galliano."

Rosie gave a subtle wave to the three girls and told them, "So Claude's not feeling so good, apparently, and he's been telling me why. One, he just came back from teaching his flexibility class and can't wait to do it again next week. He must really like it."

"Got that right."

"Two, he was waiting for you–" she motioned to Alex – "so I guess that doesn't count. Now, was there a third reason you're so down today?"

"You don't want to hear it; it's silly."

"Aw, come on, Claude!" Clover pressed playfully.

"Alright, if you really want to hear it…" Claude sighed to build up his emotional strength. "I want to check out the beach scene here, but I don't have any good swimsuits. See… I only wear speedos."

The reaction from Claude's friends was better than he had feared. Rosie tried to hold back a snicker, but Alex and Clover swooned, and Sam simply asked, "How come?"

"Hm, I don't know, actually."

"Must be a French thing?"

"Part of it, I'm sure. They do feel good, but just try to tell that to everyone in this country. Man, I could write a book on things that I think are wrong with America, but it's all little stuff, nothing serious. The freedom and all that, I can go for, don't get me wrong."

"I take it you've been called gay a lot?"

"You couldn't imagine. If it wasn't for the support of my brother, I'd have never survived school back in Philadelphia."

"You have a brother?" asked Alex.

"Yeah, step-brother… I really can't tell you who it is, though."

"Aw, come on, Claude!" everyone asked him. But Claude simply put up his hand and politely refused to answer. Hastily changing the subject, he asked Alex, "Well then, what are you doing today?"

"We were just going roller skating," she answered. "Want to rent some equipment and join us?"

"Yeah," Clover added flirtingly, "We'd, like, _love_ to have your company."

_Silly girl doesn't know I'm into Alex… for the moment anyway,_ thought Claude. _Still, what difference does it make who I'm hitting on? The more the merrier!_

Rosie interrupted his thoughts. "Are you looking for a good skate shop? I skateboard, and there's this place just by the pier I started frequenting when I moved here. Come along! You too, girls."

With Rosie's invitation, the three girls left the smoothie bar, followed closely by Claude. The three skaters had to watch their speed so as to accommodate the others who had to walk on foot. But as they passed under the pier, part of one of the columns slid down, revealing the opening to a tunnel, and Clover, Sam, and Alex were sucked inside by some sort of vacuum! Claude and Rosie instinctively braced themselves against the force, but soon Rosie realized what was up, and told Claude, "Duty calls! I think you know enough already; we might not have to brainwa…aaah!" She could not finish her sentence before she, too, was sucked into the tunnel. Once she had disappeared from view, the open panel on the pillar closed up, no longer hinting at anything out of the ordinary.

Claude had indeed learned enough about the girls' true selves to know that this was how they were being summoned by WOOHP. Hence the name they gave to this action: being 'WOOHPed'. But why did the other girl follow them in as well? In the brief time they spent together, was there something she didn't tell him?

_Définitevement__,_ he told himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

WOOHP Headquarters, Beneath Los Angeles

The headquarters of WOOHP was in disarray. With the resources gained from joining forces with Delta, they had decided to move to a new location within Los Angeles. Thus, the office of its head man, a British sixty-something named Jerry Lewis, was getting barer and barer every day. The giant computer display that previously dominated the far wall was gone, and numerous boxes lined either side of the room. The only major remnant of the room's former state lay along the other wall. Sculpted along this far wall stood the letters 'WOOHP'.

While Jerry was in the middle of moving some of his boxes, he paused to look at the middle 'O', which had dropped down to reveal the opening to a tunnel, along with some sort of mat resembling both a bed and a couch. Once it stopped moving, Jerry started counting seconds. After exactly ten seconds, he saw Clover, Sam, and Alex fall out of the tunnel and onto the round couch. "Right on schedule," he remarked to himself. Seeing the three spies tangled up in one another, he jested, "So, did you come out of Claude's class just now?"

"It ended a few hours ago," Sam answered, not amused.

"Well, do you girls need any help getting yourselves unstuck?"

"No, not at all," she said, struggling briefly. Within a moment she and her friends had untangled themselves with a minimum of effort. "We were about – or rather, Alex was about to go on a date with Claude."

"So, things are going well between you two… Hold that thought." Jerry put the conversation on hold and looked once more in the direction of the tunnel. Oddly enough, they all thought they heard the sound of someone else coming down the tunnel. And indeed there was; the last person to drop into the office was none other than Rosie, the girl they just met!

Clover, Sam, and Alex were all in a panic. An outsider had just discovered the existence of WOOHP! They all pinned Rosie onto the couch and covered her eyes, shouting incoherently. Jerry, on the other hand, remained perfectly calm as he told the three spies to lay off her. "Girls, please! She's one of us!"

Still keeping Rosie pinned and blinded, the three spies looked at Jerry incredulously and shouted, "What?" in unison.

"This girl," he explained indignantly, "is a junior agent on loan from Delta. But don't take my word for it."

Right on cue, in walked another man. He was an African-American, a good deal younger than Jerry, with a shaved head and a small trim beard around his mouth and chin. This man was known only as Director 3, and was the chief executive of the Delta Defense Alliance. "I'll give you some credit for acting so defensively about the secrecy of our organizations, but perhaps I should explain. This is Rosie Galliano, part of our junior agent program at Delta. We moved her from Philadelphia a short while ago. She is the daughter of an Italian-American mob boss who is competing with Thomas Cardinal and his Compass Mob."

At the mention of her father, Rosie got up and explained the situation from her point of view. "I just want to stop the fighting involving my father," she explained solemnly. "My mother felt the same way. She tried to interfere with the mob wars, and got herself killed. Still, that hasn't fazed me much. When I grow older, I want to become a cop so I can help stop the war myself, even at the expense of my own father. Of course I'd prefer not to hurt him personally, but…"

Director 3 understood, and helped to finish Rosie's sentence. "…Sometimes we must make sacrifices involving our loved ones. And I'm sorry about your mother."

"Thank you, sir. So then I heard about Delta Defense Alliance and its junior agent program. I joined, hoping the experience would help me in joining the police when the time comes. Of course, I had to tell my dad that I would use my new training to _help_ him. I don't see how I'll get out of _that_ when the time comes…"

"Don't worry about that for now, Agent Rosie. As it happens, right now we're investigating your father's rivals, the Compass Mob. As you are aware, except for Rosie, the Compass Mob does not operate outside of the East Coast. Rather, Thomas Cardinal owns a chain of banks, known as the Compass Financial Group. However, have some evidence to suggest that they are conspiring with terrorists. Psychic terrorists. I take it you've read the briefing on psychics."

"Yes I have, sir. But honestly, I'm having trouble believing it for myself."

"It's alright, Agent Rosie, no one who hasn't dealt with psychics before can believe their existence the first time they read about them. All you need to know is that fighting a psychic is like… like fighting Superman without any kryptonite. So don't do it."

Rosie laughed. "That's a really clever analogy, sir."

"Thank you." Director 3 shifted his attention back to the three spies. "So now that you've heard about Agent Rosie, it's time for your mission."

Jerry took over in explaining the mission. "We have people monitoring everything for any mention of Cardinal, along with a Miss Morgana Rubanenko, leader of the psychic group who may be conspiring with him. Rosie, her file was included with the briefing sent to you earlier. Well, we found a match. Both Cardinal and Rubanenko have reservations at a restaurant in San Francisco."

"Also dining with them are two others with connections to Morgana," Director 3 continued. "The first is Kira Cross. Female, Canadian, a former thief wanted in Vancouver and Toronto. The second is Stefan Brandt. Male, Swiss, a former sports star, specialized in weightlifting and snowboarding. They are both bodyguards for Morgana and the psychic society she leads, called the Omega Order. They're both very tough, and although so far as we know, they're not psychics, you should avoid combat with them as well.

"So, we have to spy on them?" asked Clover. "Sounds like a piece of cake!"

"Not, you. They've seen your faces, at least Thomas and Morgana have. That's why we're only sending Rosie on this mission, along with a small backup unit."

"Let me guess…" Sam pondered out loud. "Jake?"

"Exactly. Jake, come in!" he called out in the direction of a remote hallway. Almost immediately, two young men walked out and into the office. The first was Jake, who had shaggy brown hair and a wide stubble beard, and wore a dark suit with white sneakers.

The other person was a new one. He seemed less professional next to Jake, considering his messy black hair, thick-rimmed glasses, black printed T-shirt, and olive-colored cargo pants. "This, ladies," Jake introduced, "is Bill Williams Jr. He was one of my roommates from Princeton, and his dad used to work for Delta when my father was active."

"Whoa, whoa," interrupted Sam. "_You_ went to Princeton?"

"Yes, ma'am! Army ROTC, too, that's how I fulfilled my requirements for… for my current position."

Just, then, Bill spoke. "I can vouch for that." He spoke with a somewhat heavy Cockney accent, as if most of his time growing up was spent in working-class England. "Remember on your last mission, when _someone_ hacked into the servers at LAX and told you about the enemy's plane taking off? That was me."

"That was you?" asked Sam. "That's so cool!" Even though she was alone in showing her enthusiasm, all four of the girls politely introduced themselves to Bill. Nerdy as he may have been, he still had a certain loveable charm to him.

Jerry moved things along. "Now, back to the mission at hand. Rosie, you will go to this restaurant, assume the identity of a waitress, and eavesdrop on whatever Morgana, Thomas, and the others discuss. We suggest you use this." He showed her what looked like an ornately-shaped glass pepper shaker, only with some sort of mechanism at the bottom. "We 'borrowed' a pepper shaker from the restaurant in question, constructed a copy, and fitted it with a microphone. Place it at their table without them knowing. And once you do, it wouldn't hurt to spur the conversation in the right direction."

"What direction? What are we trying to get out of them?"

"You'll like this, Rosie. Apparently, Compass Financial is sponsoring a skateboarding contest in Vancouver, Canada. We don't know whether or not Thomas, or any of his new allies will be directly involved, so try to get them to talk about it. Remember, they haven't seen you before, so you could pose as a fan."

"A fan of who? Of Compass, that doesn't make sense… Or Stefan…?"

Rosie's question went unanswered. Alex was getting a tad annoyed at her seeming to get all the attention. She had had bad turns with newcomers before. "And what'll we be doing? We don't skate or anything."

"Well, first of all, we need you to react on whatever news Rosie and her crew brings us. Who knows, they might be doing something entirely different. And furthermore, you do roller skate, do you?"

Judging from the fact that Alex and her friends still had their skating gear on, the answer was obvious. She responded positively.

"There'll probably be some inline presence at the fest," Jake added, "so you should fit in. Try shooting a video as your cover. Once you meet up with us in Vancouver, if that's where we're headed next, then Bill and I can help you.

"Our focus isn't on filming a skating video, Jake," Sam reminded. Turning her attention to Jerry, she asked, "So, is Rosie getting any gadgets?"

Director 3 answered in his stead. "I guess you're still into old routines, Sam. But Delta agents tend to focus more on on-site procurement, and Jerry's not too happy with this, but we're trying to wean you in that direction. That way you won't be over-dependent on your gadgets, but that's beside the point. Rosie, you'll have the pepper shaker we showed earlier, and Jake and Bill's surveillance unit, but that's it. It shouldn't be too hard to get your own disguise, especially if we could get one of the waitresses to take the day off…"


End file.
